COLUMBUS - The Columbus City Council voted Tuesday night to hire General Engineering Company of Portage to begin working on the Udey Dam - although it is still not clear if that work will ultimately be repair or removal of the structure.
The firm had provided estimates of $32,000 (for removal of the dam) and $46,000 (for repair of the dam) for its work.
The estimates cover the development of plans and specifications, a dam failure analysis, a field survey and plan submittal to the Department of Natural Resources.
The department of public works had recommended that the council hire General Engineering and engineer Kent Fish. Other estimates were provided by Ayers Engineering and Mead and Hunt.
General Engineering will next work with city administrator Boyd Kraemer to apply for grants for either repair or removal of the dam.
The council on Tuesday agreed to resolutions related to two grant applications for the dam - one for repair (worth up to $200,000) and one for removal (worth up to $50,000). Both are state grants for a 50 percent match, with the remainder of the funds coming from the city.
The latter resolution initially yielded a tie vote - with council members Roger Sneath, Bill Bruns and Darrell Augustine voting against it. Mayor Nancy Osterhaus broke the tie with a yes vote.
General Engineering has volunteered to work on grant applications for the city at no charge unless the process is successful. They will bill the city $6,000 if a grant is awarded.
Actual work on the dam will not commence until at least 2010, according to Kraemer.
The future of the dam and its impact upon the Crawfish River have been up in the air since heavy rains came in May of 2004, revealing apparent problems with the dam and leading to the drawdown of the river.
At its Oct. 16, 2007, meeting, the council voted 6-0 to repair the Udey Dam at a cost not to exceed $500,000.
The council voted on Feb. 3 not to put the dam to a referendum on the April 7 general election ballot.